Adhesive tape dispensers



Sept. 23, 1969 c. A. SORIANO 3,468,743

ADHESIVE TAPE DISPENSERS Filed July 19. 1966 3 IIIHIEI:

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CHARLES A. SORIAN O United States Patent Olhce 3,468,743 Patented Sept. 23, 1969 3,468,743 ADHESIVE TAPE DISPENSERS Charles A. Soriano, 123 Papurah Road, Fairfield, Conn. 06430 Filed July 19, 1966, Ser. No. 566,407 Int. Cl. B32b 31/14 US. Cl. 156-584 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adhesive tape dispenser for separating a singly or doubly coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape from its separable liner, said separation being effected by moving the adhesive tape over a wedge-shaped splitter with the resultant separation of the liner along the underside of said splitter.

My invention relates to devices for dispensing adhesive tape and more particularly to devices dispensing singly or doubly coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape which is of a dual type in that it is alternately wound with a separable protective liner.

Tapes of this type are normally sold in rolls with a protective liner tape interposed between convolutions. The liner is generally made of paper which has been treated with a chemical substance which permits the separation of the liner from the adhesive tape without tearing. This separation is efl' ected either by manual or by mechanical means.

In manual separation, the user is confronted with a number of objectionable features. Firstly, it is time consuming and awkward to elfect an initial separation of the liner from the adhesive tape when they have been sheared off together. Secondly, the adhesive tape tends to curl and wrinkle as the liner is removed, which makes it very difficult to get a straight, neat, completely effective length of usable tape.

With respect to mechanical separation, a number of prior attempts have been made to present devices for accomplishing the same general purposes as those attained by the present dispenser. One of these devices (U.S. Patent No. 3,136,462) relied upon a liner take-up reel which is caused to rotate by frictional contact between the advancing tape and a drive roller which drives the liner take-up reel. Another device (U.S. Patent No. 3,107,193) has attempted to skive or peel the liner from the adhesive tape as they are moved together between a supporting surface and a resiliently mounted skiving blade. All of such prior devices have been either complex and expensive or relatively ineffective.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to overcome such disadvantages of prior devices by providing a dispenser for such dual tape which is extremely effective in operation, exceedingly simple and therefore inexpensive to produce.

It is another important object of this invention to provide a device of a simple and inexpensive construction such that it can be marketed along with the dual tape as a throw-away.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dispenser which does not rely upon mov ng Parts and hence, will exhibit a high degree of reliability in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser whose operation will be self-evident and which can be operated by persons with moderately low mechanical aptitudes.

A final object of the invention is to provide a device which can be fabricated of low cost materials and whose components will work equally well over a wide range of dimensional tolerances.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the dispenser showing a supply roll of dual tape mounted in its support position before the dual tape is threaded through the device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the device showing a supply roll of dual tape mounted in its support position, with the liner and adhesive tape being broken away for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken as on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the adhesive tape splitter, removed from the dispenser shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, which includes an adhesive tape guide slot and liner deflector in the same configuration.

Frame 5, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is composed of transversely spaced side members 6 and 7 which are rigidly joined to each other at juncture surfaces 8 and 9.

Tape splitter 10, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4,, serves to split or bifurcate the dual tape as the adhesive tape is pulled through the guide slot 23. This said tape splitter is provided with a splitter blade 12, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4, which is formed as a wedge shaped plow, whose upper surfaces 13a and 14a are tapered away from their leading edges 13 and 14. The preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 2 shows said leading edges as having an included angle of about with the apex of this angle being blunted. I have found through experimentation, that this angle can be reduced considerably but can be increased only slightly. The result of increasing the angle drastically has been that the adhesive tape 15 will begin to carry its liner 16 over the leading edges of the tape splitter. The result of decreasing this angle too severely is an increase in the frictional drag forces as the adhesive tape is pulled over the upper surfaces 13a and 14a.

I have also unexpectedly found that this configuration does not require that the tape splitter 10 have the sharpened leading edges which are normally required in skiving plows and also that a closely spaced transverse supporting surface is not necessary. In fact, I have found that the sharpened edges and the close proximity of a supporting surface detracts from the effectiveness of these devices.

Tape splitter 10 as seen in FIG. 4 is formed with integral mounting lugs 17 and 18, which are used to locate and support said tape splitter in relation to side members 6 and 7. Said tape splitter can be formed from a material such as Teflon or Teflon-coated metal, but I have found that a low cost plastic such as polyethylene will work equally well. I have also found that this method of separation performs especially well with dual tapes in which the flexural rigidity of the liner is greater than that of the adhesive tape. An example of this is a doublecoated masking tape having a separable liner.

Tape guide bar 19 is formed by the aligned leading edges of structural elements 20 and 21 as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Said structural elements are formed integral with side members 6 and 7 respectively and also serve to rigidly hold said side members to one another. As shown in FIG. 3, the rearward and upper edge 19a of said tape guide bar, is located approximately on the plane of the underside and to the rear of tape splitter but is spaced a suflicient distance therefrom relative to the thickness of the liner to insure that there is no skiving action and to permit unobstructed movement of the liner as it passes to the receiving area 25. This serves to permit the dual tape 22 to be guided into the said tape splitter in the proper manner.

Transverse guide slots 23, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, serves to limit the range of angular directions in which the adhesive tape is pulled relative to the plane described by the bottom surface of the tape splitter 10. Again, I have found that an excessive angle of pull causes the adhesive tape to carry its liner 16 over the leading edges of tape splitter 10 and that a very small angle will effect an increased frictional drag force.

Tape deflector 24 directs the separated liner 16 to a receiving area 25 below the tape splitter 10 as seen in FIG. 3.

Supply roll 26 is supported and positioned by inner support shoulders 27 and 28 which are formed integral with side members 6 and 7 respectively. These support shoulders are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and are so constructed that their outside diameters 29 and 30 will be smaller than the inside diameter of the annular core 31 of the dual tape supply roll 26. I have found by experimentation that the rotational axis of this supply roll 26 should be located such that the dual tape 22 will contact the tape guide bar 19 as the dual tape 22 is moved through the machine. This is effected by positioning the rotational axis of the supply roll approximately below the plane described by the bottom surface of the tape spiltter.

Cutters 32 and 33, as can be seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, are provided for the severance of the adhesive tape 15 and the liner 16 respectively. These cutters serve an additional purpose in that they are used for maintaining side members 6 and 7 in accurate alignment during the assembly process. The present embodiment shows the cutting edges 34 and 35 as being serrated. Alternate embodiments, however, may use a non-serrated cutting edge or may have the serrated cutting teeth formed integral with the structural elements 6 and 7.

In the operation of the device, a supply roll of dual tape 26 is placed in the supply roll support position by elastically deflecting the side members 6 and 7 until the opening is sufliciently wide to permit the supply roll 26 and its annular core 31 to pass between the annular support shoulders 27 and 28 which are integral with the side members 6 and 7. When the supply roll 26 is positioned such that its central axis is approximately coincident with the central axis of the annular support shoulders 27 and 28, the side members 6 and 7 are released, thereby allowing the supply roll 26 to be rotatably supported and positioned by the annular support shoulders 27 and 28. The supply roll should be inserted in such a manner that the liner surface 36 of the dual tape 22 will be in contact with the tape guide bar 19 during operation as shown in FIG. 3. The operator then manually separates the adhesive tape 15 from its liner 16 at the free end of the supply roll 26. The separated liner end 16 is then threaded over the tape guide bar 19 and under the tape splitter 10 as shown in FIG. 3.

The separated adhesive tape end 15 is then threaded over the tape guide bar 19 and is then threaded through the guide slot.

The operator then grasps the adhesive tape end 15 and pulls said tape toward the adhesive tape cutter 32 and beyond said cutter for a distance equal to the length of adhesive tape 15 desired. This movement of said adhesive tape causes the dual tape 22 to be unwound from the supply roll 26 and causes the dual tape 22 to be bifurcated or split by the tape splitter 10. During the splitting process, the liner 16 is automatically moved along the undersied of the tape splitter 10 and is guided by means of the tape deflector 24 into the receiving area 25 below the tape splitter 10. When the length of this liner 16 in the said receiving area becomes excessive, the operator can grasp the liner and sever said liner by means of the liner cutter 33 and discard this severed length of liner.

As is evident in the above description of an embodiment of this invention, variations in the modifications of the device can be envisioned. As an example, FIG. 4 shows a tape splitter, guide slot, and tape deflector integrated as a single unit. Cases may exist in which the tape deflector and guide slot may be made integral with the side members. It may also be the case that neither the guide slot, tape deflector, nor cutters are required as might be the case in an electrically powered machine in which the adhesive tape is being pulled by rollers or by other means which in effect would maintain a fixed pull-off angle between the adhesive tape and the tape splitter. Another example might be an alternative means for securing the supply roll to the frame. This can be effected by means of a removable pin which provides a rotational support for the supply roll, or possibly by slotting the side members to receive and rotatably support a supply roll which is mounted to a drum with axles.

It will now be fully apparent that this invention provides combinations of structure ideally suited for achieving the objects contemplated. It will also be observed that, although certain details of construction are important, many minor modifications and changes could be made from the exact structure shown and described for purposes of illustration without departing from the true spirit or intention of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for separating a singly or doubly coated pressure-sensitive adhesive tape from its separable liner comprising; a frame, a tape splitter, said splitter having a leading portion which is wedge-shaped, said portion having a blunted apex, the leading edges of said splitter being blunted; a guide located relative to said splitter in order to permit the dual tape to be guided to the leading edge of said splitter in a direction which is approximately parallel with the plane formed by the underside of said tape splitter, said guide being spaced from said splitter by a distance greater than the thickness of said liner in order to permit unobstructed movement of said liner as it passes said splitter; said separating means effecting separation of said adhesive tape from said liner at the adhesive interface as the said adhesive tape is moved over said splitter with a resultant separation of the said liner along the underside of said splitter.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, further including a transverse guide slot which is placed in a location relative to said tape splitter in order to limit the range of angular directions in which the said adhesive tape is pulled relative to the plane described by the bottom surface of said tape splitter.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, further including a means attached to said frame for rotatably supporting a supply roll of said dual tape.

4. A device as defined in claim 2, further including a means attached to said frame for rotatably supporting a supply roll of said dual tape.

5 6 5. A device as defined in claim 3, further including References Cited means for severance of said adhesive tape. UNITED STATES PATENTS 6. A device as defined in claim 3, further including means for severance of said liner. gussbaum 15 7. A device as defined in claim 5, further including 5 3O77919 2/1963 g 156 584 1 b means swrame of Sa1d 1merg 3,107,193 10/1963 De Neui et a1. 156-527 8. A device as defined in claim 4, further mcludmg 3 274 03 9 19 Karn 5 5 means for severance of said adhesive tape.

9. A device as defined in claim 4, further including JAMES MEISTER, Primary EXamiIler means for severance of said liner. 10

10. A device as defined in claim 8, further including means for severance of said liner. 156-527; 16133; 2257 

